Feat or stat increase?

[Starchild7309]

So our little group is rapidly approaching our first opportunity to take stat increases or a feat. I am running a light domain cleric of Lathander with a wisdom of 15.

Since this is our first 5e campaign and I do not have a lot of experience with this edition, would I be better served to bump my wisdom to 17 or take a feat. If the latter, what feats are worth considering?

[Inevitability]

Maybe take a feat to increase your wisdom by 1 and give you another benefit?

[Yuki Akuma]

Take the Observant feat. It'll grant you all the benefits of increasing your Wis by 2 (because it increases your Wis by 1, and only even numbers matter) and also gives you other stuff. :smallwink:

Alternatively, if you find yourself in the thick of things a lot, War Caster might be a good choice.

[DireSickFish]

Do you have any other odd stats? Because a half feat would be a no brainier choice if you don't have anywhere useful to put that second point.

[Selkirk]

only caveat is that most caster feats aren't that good :smalleek:. and remember you can split ability increases +1 for 2 scores-so if you had 15 con and 15 wis stat bonus is the way to go.

[Vogonjeltz]

So our little group is rapidly approaching our first opportunity to take stat increases or a feat. I am running a light domain cleric of Lathander with a wisdom of 15.

Since this is our first 5e campaign and I do not have a lot of experience with this edition, would I be better served to bump my wisdom to 17 or take a feat. If the latter, what feats are worth considering?

I had the similar concerns approaching ASI/Feat options. Consider this: A Cleric receives 5 ability score increases. To reach a 20 Wisdom will require putting at least 5 points into it. This equates to: 2 pure ASI wisdom boosts + 1/2 an ASI or a Feat that grants +1 Wisdom. Leaving you 2 spare ASIs.

Feats that also can boost Wisdom:
Observant - Useful for not getting ambushed (combat utility) and useful for exploration or noticing something amiss (noncombat utility).
Resilient - You are already proficient in Wisdom saves, so this is not useful.

If observant doesn't appeal to you and none of your other significant stats are odd (making it worthwhile to split the first asi) then I'd suggest picking up a feat that takes your next most important stat (probably str or con) from even to odd, so you can split your next asi between that and wisdom. There are plenty of feats that grant an increase to str or dex.

[Feldarove]

Bumping your stats early can really be helpful, when you are limited on spells. However, a lot of the feats are meant to define characters. So taking them later seems odd flavor wise.

Observant is a decent feat. But bumping your wisdom to unleash more spells sooner than later always seem a better choice to me.

[Starsinger]

Bumping your stats early can really be helpful, when you are limited on spells. However, a lot of the feats are meant to define characters. So taking them later seems odd flavor wise.

Observant is a decent feat. But bumping your wisdom to unleash more spells sooner than later always seem a better choice to me.

It... sounds like you're implying there are bonus spells for having a higher spell casting modifier.

[Tenmujiin]

It... sounds like you're implying there are bonus spells for having a higher spell casting modifier.

He means spells prepared. Personally I haven't had a problem with that on my tempest cleric, between the two domain spells (one of which is always damage for light and tempest) and the level+3 (16 wis from racials) of my choice I'm able to pick up every spell I need and most of those I want.

OP: Like everyone else is saying, if you have another odd ability score (possibly even if it is str/int/cha) you are probably better off with the split ASI otherwise a feat that boosts your wis would be your best bet (although a flavorful feat would be almost as good and probably more interesting).

[Kornaki]

If observant doesn't appeal to you and none of your other significant stats are odd (making it worthwhile to split the first asi) then I'd suggest picking up a feat that takes your next most important stat (probably str or con) from even to odd, so you can split your next asi between that and wisdom. There are plenty of feats that grant an increase to str or dex.

You can also do it the other way around - it's probably better to bump wisdom first (along with the other stat), and then grab the feat later if the only reason you're grabbing the feat is so that you feel better about increasing your wisdom later down the line.

[Shining Wrath]

In 5e, optimize your party. What's the rest of the party look like? Do you need Observant in the party? Do you have another odd stat, and would bumping that stat be of any real use?

[Kurald Galain]

At level 4, you should definitely take a feat. Having more options for your character is both mechanically better and more interesting in gameplay than becoming 5% better at things you could already do.

Take stat increases only when you run out of good feats to take. Depending on your class, this could be anywhere between level 8 and never.

[Rilak]

I had the similar concerns approaching ASI/Feat options. Consider this: A Cleric receives 5 ability score increases. To reach a 20 Wisdom will require putting at least 5 points Resilient - You are already proficient in Wisdom saves, so this is not useful.

Well. Resilient could still be useful at level 8. If all other useful stats are even, go for +1 WIS +1 CON now and Resilient(Con) at 8th (it can wait; proficiency is not very big at the beginning).

Now given that the character in question is a Light Cleric I would go for Elemental Adept(Fire). You have access to many fire spells (Fireball at 5th) and many monsters resist fire. Plus re-roll 1s and 2s.